Summary: Powerful Indictment of U.S. Culture
"Christopher Lasch (1932-1994) published this cynical indictment of U.S. culture in the late 1970's, and many say its message is just as true today. The author attacks consumerism and selfishness, particularly among those baby boomers from the so-called Me Generation that had known only post-war prosperity. Professor Lasch is rightly bothered by family breakup, a lack of committment, youth cultism, and celebrity worship, while many decry the sterile, car-dependent-suburban-strip-mall materialism that's taken hold. The author largely blames the left for this cultural downfall, which is ironic. Why? A year after this book arrived Reaganism came in, with its great emphasis on materialism and individualism, plus near-contempt for the downtrodden and efforts to help them.
The author should have credit those baby boomers that struggled for civil rights or volunteered for the military or peace corps. Additionally, his fast-paced style is a bit unclear; our college class found his prose confusing. Still, this is a powerful indictment, and one can only guess how Lasch would view contemporary symmbols like Jerry Springer, Paris Hilton, and athletes on steroids.
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"Christopher Lasch (1932-1994) published this cynical indictment of U.S. culture in the late 1970's,
... Summary: "I don't like how people are losing their sense of past in favor of the self"
"There, if you read my title I saved you the time and money necessary to read this book.
If your idea of a good time is reading an indictment of American Individualism repeated over and over again each chapter with a batch of other people who agree with the author cited to somehow legitimize what he's saying, then go for it.
Recommended for the first year psychology and philosophy student in college. Nothing will make you feel smarter and more spiteful of all those people who beat you up in highschool and / or stood you up at the prom than this one!
Also, I didn't like it. "
"There, if you read my title I saved you the time and money necessary to read this book.
... Summary: by Hammer and Hand do all things stand...
"I really enjoyed reading this book. The two or three week nights it took seemed pretty straight forward to me (and believe me when I say this: I do not suffer fools...I can suffer lots of other sorts...but if I peg an author for a fool...her or his book's toast.). Then again concepts like spirituality seem as concrete to me as the notion of sexuality seems to be for everyone else. Anyway, I'm sorry that not everyone who tries can experience the apparently hard pleasures found in these writings. "
"I really enjoyed reading this book. The two or three week nights it took seemed pretty straight fo
... Summary: dissenting vote
"Bad reviews typically receive bad reviews. So be it. After several chapters of trying to decide whether the problem was me or the author, I simply gave up. This is no easy read. I don't think we gain much from an endless list of data. "
"Bad reviews typically receive bad reviews. So be it. After several chapters of trying to decide whe
... Summary: Superbly Written and Incisive Critique
"Christopher Lasch is intellect, you sense it as you read a flowing description of well-structured prose. He develops arguments, marshals facts, and presents his critique of so much that is debilitating modern society - American - and through ill-thought out emulation, British and other Western societies.
Human society is usually mired in mediocrity with flashes of brilliance, but to actively steer participatory democracies into the dead-end of frustrated citizens, alienated voters, and dissatisfied workers is an act of supreme folly which even those snake-oil salesmen who peddled the concoction to the gullible could not have intended.
The optimism of the past has been replaced by a sense of despair and foreboding because of abuses of trust and directionless motion over decades which have resulted in a weakening of the social purpose and identifiable community itself.
Lasch was a truly brilliant purveyor of insight and a pleasure to read; where so much nowadays is verbose and circumlocutory, Lasch is focused on the fact and wastes not one word.
The late-Christopher Lasch was a brilliant essayist and a fine mind."
"Christopher Lasch is intellect, you sense it as you read a flowing description of well-structured p
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